Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Article: Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?

ScienceDaily (2009-01-29) -- As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to psychological research.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm#

Some of the interesting assertions made in the article:

"Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said."

Also

"No one medium is good for everything," Greenfield said. "If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops."

Her research found that:
"multi-tasking 'prevents people from getting a deeper understanding of information.'"

Cite:
University of California - Los Angeles (2009, January 29). Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm#

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You have to be careful about quoting magazine articles as if they are educational research. I am appalled at the way teachers are responding to this article without critical thinking or analysis, so I blame an educational system that overemphasizes memorizing and neglects thinking not the Internet.